You can say that. But you just need one example to discredit my theory and you couldn’t find one here.
No - because then you can say that they always let in one or two who have financial need - but practically all still have to be full pay! LOL. Btw, this is known as “confirmation bias.”
1 Like
It’s an old canard, but I’m very doubtful of it. If they are cherry-picking full-pays only off the wait list that would be inconsistent with at least six decades of the need-blind admissions policy. Someone in the admissions office would have a conniption over it and would blow the whistle (as happened a couple of years ago in a much less clear case of a possible preference given to wealthy kids in landing summer internships).
For those reasons I am highly doubtful that there’s any correlation favoring full pays coming off the waitlist. If there is, it might not be causal: I would expect the really impressive kids from lower SES to be picked up earlier in the admissions cycle, or, if not, be more inclined to seal the deal elsewhere and move on, leaving a greater proportion of higher SES in the waitlist pool. However, that too is speculation.
2 Likes
LOL. I know you guys are gonna jumping on to protect UChicago. 
wait just curious, were you accepted off waitlist or are you currently on it as well?
On it last year.
1 Like
ohh cool, wait so how was the process for you? did you end up getting accepted off of it, or did you attend a different school
Are we sure that UChicago is need blind when going to the waitlist? That would be uncommon, even for need-blind schools. And we know that UChicago is not completely need-blind in the rest of their admissions process…they are need aware for international students.
I was going to ask this question on the ‘ask a Uchicago AO anything’ but they haven’t responded to the last several posts on that thread.
We applied for fin aid. Go figure…
Here’s what my AO said, implying that they consider all applicants (even those with need) when it comes to the waitlist: “When we look to the waitlist, we are assessing the components of the application that were reviewed for admission in our different application rounds, as well as any updates provided by the student. Separately, our financial aid office will review the financial documents to determine a student’s financial aid package (again, like with the application review, this holds true for the waitlist).”
My AO just told me that they have not concluded utilizing class of 2025 waitlist for admittance, so it seems that people are still getting/are to get admitted off of it perhaps sometime in the near-future.
I guess you can say, Mwfan, that foreign students are need-aware if only because they don’t get FA as per the guarantee made to domestic students that anyone accepted will receive the aid necessary to permit attendance. Ergo, all foreign applicants are necessarily full pay and are known to be such at the admissions stage. Are they accepted over and above identically qualified domestic students who need FA just because they are known to be full pay? I highly doubt this. The process is not need blind, need just plays no part in the consideration of foreign applicants. That is the essential point.
As for privileging full pays off the waitlist, I don’t know whether this is being done at other schools, but Chicago’s policy would not allow that. I doubt if the FA status of an applicant can even be known at the admissions stage, whether or not it comes at the time of selecting from the waitlist.
I am sure some internationals who have financial need are accepted at UChicago…it’s just that the AOs know how much they need to invest in the applicant, before admitting them.
I would be interested in seeing Chicago’s policy on waitlists and need aware vs need blind…I don’t see that on their website.
@Transfer20212025 let me get this straight: you were waitlisted last year and have now returned to haunt the UChicago threads? Just want to make sure I have the facts correct, because if so then we are looking at a contemporary twist on an old tradition. Back when the college was far less selective, the specter would roam the dorm hallways, bitterly wailing about not having gotten into Princeton. Now they roam the internet, bitterly wailing about not having gotten into UChicago!
2 Likes
Yes, but they disclose that.
Why would you assume that the policy regarding need-blind admissions is any different when the admission is made off the waitlist? I would not consider any special “clarification” to be necessary in that regard. However, I do note that @Laura23001 's AO has said as much to her.
1 Like
I’m just here to tell the truth and the reality to the new kids and discredit some misinformation. 
Need-blind is something that the university has discussed as a general policy for decades. It’s a pretty integral to the place. The best place to find it is on the financial aid page when they discuss “No Barriers” but here’s a PDF I found quickly for you. See the top of page 2:
Update to add: and here it is on their website:Financial Support | College Admissions
1 Like
Being need aware for waitlists is what’s most common, even for need-blind schools…because financial aid budgets tend to be maxed out by May 1 (even at highly selective schools). Some schools directly state this policy on their websites, some don’t. When a policy isn’t clearly stated on a website, there is typically a reason for that.
With that said, one of my students who came off UChicago’s waitlist early two or three cycles ago had a high level of financial need…but that doesn’t mean UChicago didn’t know that before they admitted her.
1 Like
Thanks, I have this document. Note it does not address the waitlist situation, nor does it state that they are need-aware for internationals at all times (which is noted elsewhere on their website).